Greetings from Mayo Clinic Health System in St. James

In conjunction with the St. James Chamber of Commerce, Mayo Clinic Health System in St. James is hosting a special Business After Hours open house on Tuesday, Feb. 12, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the medical center. The event will include an open discussion titled “Health Care Changes and Delivering Community-Based Care...

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By Submitted ByRyan Smith

St. James Plaindealer - St. James, MN

By Submitted ByRyan Smith

Posted Feb. 10, 2013 at 8:00 AM

By Submitted ByRyan Smith

Posted Feb. 10, 2013 at 8:00 AM

St. James Plaindealer

After wrapping up the first month of 2013, the medical center staff and providers have already proven that this promises to be a great year. We continue to look at ways we can expand our services and better connect with the St. James and surrounding communities. Our value statement – “The needs of the patient come first” – is our primary focus. This statement is the driving force behind all that we do, and we look at the ensuing days and months as a series of opportunities to improve on meeting all of your family’s health care needs right here in St. James

Let’s take a look at the latest news from the medical center:

Community

In conjunction with the St. James Chamber of Commerce, Mayo Clinic Health System in St. James is hosting a special Business After Hours open house on Tuesday, Feb. 12, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the medical center. The event will include an open discussion titled “Health Care Changes and Delivering Community-Based Care” led by Rich Grace, Mayo Clinic Health System regional chief administration officer, and myself.

Additionally, there will be a patient testimonial from local business man and medical center board of directors chair Jim Branstad, as well as refreshments and other activities. Everyone is welcome to attend and should enter through the main clinic entrance.

We will be hosting the next Speaking of Health educational seminar on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. in the main conference room. Benjamin Wong, M.D., cardiologist at Mayo Clinic Health System, will present on the topic of heart health. This seminar is open to the public and staff, and we hope to see you there.

In early January, we delivered the food that the medical center staff donated to the Watonwan County Food Shelf. The food shelf was very appreciative of the large contribution, and our staff is thrilled to help our fellow community members who are in need.

Mayo Clinic Health System in St. James will be sponsoring the “Freeze Your Caboose Off Winter Chill-a-bration.” The event takes place on Feb. 23 and 24 and includes a bean bag tournament, plunge into St. James Lake, run/walk and kickball tournament. Be on the watch for a team of medical center staff participating in the plunge and the run/walk. For more details on the event, please visit the chamber website.

Growth and Services

The Joint Commission – an organization that evaluates and accredits U.S. health care organizations – sent a team of expert surveyors to our medical center in early November 2012. We recently received word that The Joint Commission has awarded the medical center The Gold Seal of Approval ™ for accreditation. This is another testament to the quality care that we provide and the hard work from our dedicated providers and staff.

Page 2 of 2 - The medical center experienced a 74 percent increase in specialty provider visits in 2012 compared to 2011, 2,100 more visits in our clinic and a 27 percent increase in visits to our Emergency Department.

Surgical staff performed 185 surgical cases in 2012, which is nearly 100 more cases than they saw in 2011. Thank you sincerely for trusting us with your care.

Visitor restrictions that we put in place because of the increased amount of influenza cases in the region have been lifted. As of Friday, Feb. 1, there are no further restrictions, but we encourage people to stay diligent in their efforts to take precautionary measures if they are experiencing flu-like symptoms.

Our physical therapy (PT) department welcomes Danielle Mueller to the team. We are excited to have Danielle join the staff at the medical center as the PT department continues to grow. Did you know that our PT department saw close to 35,000 visits in 2011?

We appreciate your continued support in our mission to bring high quality care close to home.

We are fortunate to have recently had two of our providers named to regional leadership positions for our six hospitals and 23 clinics. Vonnie Gratz, emergency medicine nurse practitioner, was recently chosen as the lead advanced practice provider for the region in emergency medicine. Julie Pace, family medicine nurse practitioner, was named to the same leadership position in the region for family medicine.

The partnership between the medical center and community is more important now than ever before. We want to continue to improve the care we provide and how we deliver it, and without true relationships with the people and communities we serve, we won’t be able to achieve that goal.

Again, I encourage you to join us for the open house on Feb. 12. This is a wonderful opportunity for further collaboration with community members and will help make sense of the changes in health care.

I am thrilled to be a part of Mayo Clinic Health System in St. James and to partner with all of you during this exciting time in health care. Please feel free to share your feedback with me at any time. Thank you and have a wonderful – and hopefully warmer – month of February!